Nighthawks
Edward Hopper · 1942
Oil on canvas
Quick answer
Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper is in Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Nighthawks is an oil painting by American realist artist Edward Hopper, created in January 1942, weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It depicts four figures in a brightly lit all-night diner on a deserted New York street in the small hours. The painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is one of the most iconic images of American urban loneliness and alienation. World Museum Guide explains what you're looking at and how to see it.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Nighthawks?
Nighthawks is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, displayed in Gallery 262. The museum is at 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
What diner is in Nighthawks?
Hopper based the painting on a diner he had noticed on Greenwich Avenue in New York's Greenwich Village. The specific diner has never been definitively identified — it was demolished at some point after 1942. Hopper said he simplified and enlarged the interior from what he had actually observed.
What does Nighthawks represent?
The painting depicts urban loneliness and isolation — the experience of being surrounded by the city yet disconnected from human connection. Hopper himself said: "Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city." The four figures are physically close but appear psychologically isolated from one another. The empty street outside and the absence of a visible entrance reinforce the sense of enclosure and alienation.
Who are the people in Nighthawks?
The four figures are a man and woman sitting together at the counter, a third man (back to the viewer) at the far end, and the counterman (server) behind the counter. Hopper's wife Jo modelled for the female figure and the man beside her. No names or identities are established — they are deliberately anonymous, typical urban strangers.
Was Nighthawks painted during World War II?
Yes — Hopper painted it in January 1942, just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). Some art historians have interpreted the empty streets and the sense of tension and vulnerability in the painting as reflecting the shock and anxiety of the early war period, though Hopper himself never explicitly connected the painting to the war.